Investigating the lexico-grammatical resources of a non-native user of English:The case of can and could in email requests

Individual users of English as a first or second language are assumed to possess or aspire to a monolithic grammar, an internally consistent set of rules which represents the idealized norms or conventions of native speakers. This position reflects a deficit view of L2 learning and usage, and is at odds with usage-based approaches to language development and research findings on idiolectal variation. This study problematizes the assumption of monolithic ontologies of grammar for TESOL by exploring a fragment of genre-specific lexico-grammatical knowledge (the can you/could you V construction alternation in requests) in a single non-native user of English, post-instruction. A corpus sample of the individual’s output was compared with the input he was exposed to and broader norms for the genre. The analysis confirms findings in usage-based linguistics which demonstrate that an individual’s lexico-grammatical knowledge constitutes an inventory of constructions shaped in large part by distributional patterns in the input. But it also provides evidence for idiosyncratic preferences resulting from exemplar-based inertia in production, suggesting that input is not the sole factor. Results are discussed in the context of a “plurilithic” ontology of grammar and the challenges this represents for pedagogy and teacher development

School Engagement among Youth in Canadian Forces Families: A Comparative Analysis

There has been a growing body of literature on adolescents in military families since 2002.  This research has focused on how frequent moves and parental deployments are two unique potential stressors for youth in military families, and are associated with negative school outcomes. Analyzing data collected from a school in a military community, and data from a national sample of Canadian youth, we examine the impact of military stressors on the school engagement of youth in military families.  While we found evidence of residential mobility contributing to negative school engagement outcomes, we also found a positive association between school engagement and parental deployments.  Surprisingly, relative to both the civilian youth in our sample and the national sample, military youth exhibited higher levels of school engagement when a parent has been deployed. Depuis 2002, de plus en plus d’études ont été publiées sur les adolescents de familles de militaires. Cette recherche explique que les déplacements fréquents et les déploiements d’un parent constituent pour ces jeunes des agents de stress potentiels et uniques, et qu’ils sont associés à des résultats scolaires négatifs. Nous avons analysé des données provenant d’une école dans une communauté militaire ainsi que des données tirées d’un échantillon national de jeunes canadiens pour étudier l’impact des agents de stress d’origine militaire sur l’implication scolaire chez les jeunes de familles de militaires. Si nous avons trouvé des indications que la mobilité résidentielle contribuait aux résultats scolaires négatifs, nous avons également trouvé une association positive entre l’implication scolaire et les déploiements d’un parent. Étonnamment, nous avons constaté que, comparés aux jeunes civils dans notre échantillon et dans l’échantillon national, les jeunes de familles de militaires manifestent plus d’implication scolaire pendant les déploiements d’un parent.

Mobile Virtual Environments

As mobile hardware becomes more advanced and readily available, there is a greater need to investigate mobile virtual environments. Previous attempts at mobile virtual environments have yielded unsatisfactory results. This research aims to create a believable mobile virtual environment, capable of running in real-time and making use of intuitive input mechanisms. The rendering of the virtual environment is accomplished with the use of OpenGL ES, while the interaction of the system is handled by a tilt sensor and GPS receiver. Optimisation techniques are necessary to achieve a minimum interactive frame rate of 5 frames per second including mipmaps, frustum culling, minimisation of OpenGL ES state changes and the use of fixed-point calculations rather than floating-point calculations. User tests clearly show that the use of intuitive input mechanisms is greatly preferred over conventional keypad input. This research shows that believable mobile virtual environments are feasible and are able to provide the user with intuitive input mechanisms and an interactive frame rate

ISCEV guidelines for calibration and verification of stimuli and recording instruments (2023 update)

This document developed by the International Society for Clinical Electrophysiology of Vision (ISCEV) provides guidance for calibration and verification of stimulus and recording systems specific to clinical electrophysiology of vision. This guideline provides additional information for those using ISCEV Standards and Extended protocols and supersedes earlier Guidelines. The ISCEV guidelines for calibration and verification of stimuli and recording instruments (2023 update) were approved by the ISCEV Board of Directors 01, March 2023